It was one of those completely word-of-mouth things. Every September from 2002 to 2006, 500 people from across Western Canada (that’s how many tickets were sold, period) would camp out in a coulee just east of Drumheller for Waynefest, an under-the-radar alternative music festival. There were no stars playing, just local acts with a loyal following, the likes of Corb Lund, Kris Demeanor and the Wailin’ Jennys. It was more about having one last outdoor hootenanny before the snow flew, one of Alberta’s best-kept secrets.
Sadly, the festival fizzled out last year. But the truly one-horse town of Wayne – basically the historic Rosedeer Hotel and Last Chance Saloon – remains a place of pilgrimage for bikers, hipsters and other self-described misfits. And the spirit of whimsy that inspired Waynefest continues to inhabit the Drumheller Valley.
Coming as I do from the West Coast, I have a soft spot for grassroots counterculture, and perhaps nowhere in Alberta is that so evident as it is in Drumheller. From the quirky dinosaur sculptures that dot the downtown to the acclaimed Rosebud Theatre in nearby Rosebud, this is a community with a sense of humour and a life outside the nine-to-five. Even the Canadian Badlands Passion Play, held outdoors every summer, speaks to something beyond the service of the almighty dollar.
Our first visit was at the behest of my two preschool paleontologists, but we quickly realized there was more to the place than the Royal Tyrell Museum. Nestled at the bottom of the Red Deer River’s sinuous canyon, Drumheller is a world removed from the quintessential rolling prairie that surrounds it and, in a way unlike most towns this far from the Rockies, visually spectacular. The Wild West atmosphere engendered by this cactus-studded, badland milieu is accentuated by an endearingly ramshackle downtown. Tourism is a big business here – you can’t miss the World’s Largest Dinosaur – and, increasingly, so is retirement living.
For the same reason the dinosaur fossils are found here in such abundance, the area is rich in coal, which was Drumheller’s early raison d’etre. These days, oil and especially gas are the most sought-after resources, but this is far from a resource town. For its size, its economy is remarkably diversified. Among the larger industrial establishments in town are W. Ralston (Canada) Inc., a maker of garbage bags, vapour barriers and construction film, and Inland Plastics, which specializes in products for farms and construction sites.
Not being tied to resources has meant Drumheller shows few signs of Alberta’s recent boom times, the upside being that wage rates, home and land prices all remain relatively affordable. With unemployment below 3%, the town is far from hurting economically. But you get the sense people come here and stay for more than the jobs or the $500-a-month apartments. It’s a state of mind.
The Bigger Picture
Population
7,932
Average home price
$221,000
Weather
Drumheller has some of the most reliably hot summers in Alberta. July temperatures average 23 C but can surpass 40 C.
Economic picture
No one industry dominates Drumheller’s economy, relieving it from the boom-and-bust cycles that often characterize small-town Alberta. Oil and gas companies including EnCana, Black Watch Energy Services and BJ Services have a significant presence. Equally important is the agriculture and farm services sector. And tourism is big too; half a million visitors pass through town annually and hotel operator Canalta (Best Western) is the No. 3 employer after the Drumheller Institution, a federal prison, and the local health authority.
Under construction
Two schools, Drumheller Composite High and St. Anthony’s, are undergoing rebuilds. Newly opened and hungry for occupants is the municipally owned Rosedale Industrial Subdivision.
Conversation starter
Water quality. Being downstream from Red Deer and any number of pipelines and industrial sites, Drumhellerites are sensitive to changes in the colour and taste of the water in their river and coming out of their taps. The wastewater treatment plant is getting a $12-million overhaul that should improve water quality for 2,700 homes. Not far from town, rural residents raised the alarm a few years ago about flammable gases in their well water, which some blamed on coalbed methane extraction though the oil and gas companies insist it is a naturally occurring phenomenon.
Where to eat
For a change from fast food and “family restaurants,” try the Sizzling House downtown on Centre Street. The spicy Chinese and Thai specialties are as good as anything you’d find in Calgary and very reasonably priced.
Where to sleep
For standard business travellers’ amenities and a central location, you can’t do better than the Ramada Inn & Suites, off Highway 9 just across the tracks from downtown. For something completely different, the Ghost Pine Cabin (403-823-9673), 25 kilometres upstream on the Red Deer River, is accessible only by the owners’ all-terrain vehicle. You can’t beat the implausible (for the Prairies) feeling of isolated wilderness, surrounded by stark, sculpted canyons. Bring your rock hammer.
Diversion
The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology is simply the finest museum collection of any kind in Western Canada. Like an educational Ikea store, it guides you through 500 million years of prehistory, with fossils and exhibitry from each period right up to the last ice age, though the show-stoppers hogging most of the floor space are the locally exhumed dinosaur skeletons from the Cretaceous period.
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